Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
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2. |
Declarations of Interest PDF 75 KB
Members to declare any
interests they have in the business to be considered at the
meeting
Minutes:
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3. |
Minutes Of Previous Council Meeting PDF 255 KB
To receive the record of the
proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 3 October 2012
and to approve the accuracy thereof
Minutes:
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4. |
Public Questions and Petitions and Other Communications PDF 77 KB
To receive any questions or
petitions from the public, or communications submitted by the Lord
Mayor or the Chief Executive and to pass such resolutions thereon
as the Council Procedure Rules permit and as may be deemed
expedient
Minutes:
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5. |
Members' Questions PDF 116 KB
Questions relating to urgent
business – Council Procedure Rule 16.6(ii).
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Supplementary questions on
written questions submitted at this meeting – Council
Procedure Rule 16.4.
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Questions on the discharge of
the functions of the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities for Fire and
Rescue, Integrated Transport, Pensions and Police - Section 41 of
the Local Government Act, 1985 – Council Procedure Rule
16.6(i).
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(NB. Minutes of recent meetings
of the four South Yorkshire Joint Authorities have been made
available to all Members of the Council via the following link
https://meetings.sheffield.gov.uk/council-meetings/full-council
)
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Minutes:
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6. |
Representation, Delegated Authority and Related Issues PDF 42 KB
To consider any changes to the
memberships and arrangements for meetings of Committees etc.,
delegated authority, and the appointment of representatives to
serve on other bodies
Minutes:
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7. |
Appointment of Independent Persons in Accordance with the Localism Act 2011 PDF 77 KB
Report of the Director of Legal
Services.
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Minutes:
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8. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING A LIVING WAGE
That this Council:-
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(a)
notes that 4th - 10th November is Living Wage
Week, and that the Living Wage is calculated by the Centre for
Research in Social Policy at £7.20 per hour, compared to the
national minimum wage of £6.19 per hour;
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(b)
notes recent research from KPMG
indicating that 4.82 million people across the country are paid
less than the Living Wage, which amounts to one in five workers in
the UK;
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(c) notes that a
Living Wage has been introduced in other areas across the country
where several leading public and private sector organisations have
signed up to the campaign;
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(d)
believes that paying the living wage boosts the incomes of the
lowest paid, who have been hit especially hard by rising prices,
increasing costs of living and the double dip recession;
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(e)
supports this Administration’s commitment to providing the
Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for all Council employees from
1st January 2013;
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(f) welcomes
that this commitment from the present Administration means that
from January next year all staff employed by Sheffield City Council
will be paid a wage of at least £7.20 per hour, which will
see an increase for the lowest paid 275 staff on the lowest two
grades at the Council;
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(g)
regrets that Council staff have seen their pay frozen for the past
two years in order to protect as many jobs and services as possible
given the massive cuts imposed by the Government and notes that
consultation is currently taking place with trade unions to extend
the increment freeze, acknowledging that if increments were frozen
again the Council would save £5 million per year, however,
implementing a living wage would target raising the incomes of the
Council’s lowest paid staff;
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(h) supports the
present Administration’s commitment to meet the cost of the
Living Wage at the same time as making a £1 million saving
through cuts to senior management positions; and
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(i)
directs that a report is brought to
Cabinet outlining plans to implement a Living Wage in the Council
and to initiate a campaign to support a Living Wage for Sheffield
involving partners across the City in public, private and voluntary
sector organisations.
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Minutes:
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9. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING GOVERNMENT FUNDING REDUCTIONS
That this Council:-
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(a)
notes the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2013/14 to 2017/18
presented to Cabinet last month outlining the financial position of
Sheffield City Council over the next five years;
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(b)
expresses its anger and dismay at the Council’s budget
position which is now significantly worse than was previously
estimated because the Government are making additional unfair cuts
to Sheffield as a result of their failure to grow the economy and
notes that even without the additional cuts the Council was already
facing an impossible budget position which will have a massive
impact on Council services in Sheffield;
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(c) notes that
this is in addition to the £140 million that has been reduced
from the Council’s budget over the past two years meaning
that future cuts will unavoidably have a bigger impact on Council
services that are valued by local people;
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(d)
further notes that the £50 million of cuts to next
year’s budget followed by £35 million the following
year means that the cuts will now total £225 million over
four years;
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(e)
deplores this Government’s continued attack on Sheffield and
believes that they have no understanding of the lives of normal
hardworking families and the fact that they are making additional
cuts to local government at the same time as giving income tax cuts
to millionaires indicates the values of this Government;
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(f) is
shocked at the irresponsibility of the Government who will not
confirm the final settlement until the Autumn Statement in
December, when the Council has to set the budget in
March;
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(g)
continues to oppose the unfairness of the cuts which see councils
with the highest levels of deprivation receiving the majority of
the cuts whilst some of the wealthiest areas in the country receive
almost no cuts at all;
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(h) deplores the
continued broken promises of the Member of Parliament for Sheffield
Hallam, who earlier this month stated that he would ensure that
future cuts are targeted at the wealthiest, whilst at the same time
being the Deputy Prime Minister in a Government which is making
additional unfair cuts to Sheffield and reneging on its promise
that 100% of Sheffield’s business rates would be localised to
spend on local services by now reducing this to 50% of business
rates;
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(i) welcomes
that the present Administration have identified protecting services
for the most vulnerable as a key priority in addition to the
significant work that the present Administration are undertaking to
support the development of the local economy;
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(j) further
welcomes that the present Administration are standing up for
Sheffield, taking action to bring attention to the damaging impact
of the reckless and unfair cuts that this Government are making to
Sheffield and to be honest with local people by making clear the
impact it will have on Sheffield; and
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(k) resolves to
continue to stand up for Sheffield, focus on jobs, be business
friendly and support and protect communities, however, regrets that
given the level of cuts that the Government are ...
view the full agenda text for item 9.
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Minutes:
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10. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING 'STREETS AHEAD' PROJECT : DISRUPTION TO ON-STREET PARKING PROVISION
That this Council:-
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(a)
recognises and welcomes the progress of the ‘Streets
Ahead’ scheme, secured by Liberal Democrat influence in
Government and backed by £1.2 billion of Coalition Government
funding;
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(b)
believes that, as a result of the hard work of Liberal Democrat
Councillors, the whole of Sheffield will see dramatic improvements
in the quality of its road network;
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(c) however, notes
the large swathes of the City’s residential areas, with
highly-concentrated areas of on-street parking, and is concerned
that no effort has been made to provide alternative parking
arrangements to mitigate the significant disruption that will be
caused by these vital works; and
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(d)
therefore, calls upon the Council to
liaise with Amey and local land owners
in order to provide free and secure alternative parking facilities
to affected residents for the duration of the works.
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Minutes:
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11. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING WELFARE CHANGES
That this Council:-
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(a) is
appalled that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in this Government
has announced he is planning to make £10billion of further
cuts to the welfare budget;
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(b) is
concerned that the impacts will be felt greatly by hard working low
income families, and that Northern cities including Sheffield will
bear the brunt of the cuts, having huge detrimental impacts on
local residents, the Council’s services and the local economy
with an estimate of £180 million less coming into the
City’s economy annually;
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(c) worries that
the system is not fit for purpose, noting that analysis of the new
system for the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation, by the University of Portsmouth and the Centre for
Social and Economic Inclusion, has raised serious concerns about
the administration of Universal Credit and potential outcomes and
they believe that “while some would see improvements to their
finances, the report concludes, not everyone will benefit and some
could be worse off on universal benefit than under current
arrangements…our research has found the actual roll-out
could unintentionally trap people in poverty and
hardship";
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(d) is
concerned that the proposal of Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions, (the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, MP) to only give child
and work related benefits to the first two children is attacking
poor low paid families in an attempt to paint welfare recipients as
‘takers’ who should have to “cut their cloth like
everyone else”, and believes that the move is ill thought out
and would only save £200million;
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(e) is
worried that recipients of disability benefits are going to be
worse off under Universal Credit, noting that £9billion has
already been cut from the budget since this Government came to
power with further cuts planned and many people will have to be
reassessed and will find their benefits reduced, and that the
Hardest Hit Campaign believes these further cuts will put disabled
people at risk of poverty, debt and isolation;
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(f) is
concerned that the bedroom tax is likely to affect approximately
6-7000 residents in Sheffield, and that many residents will have to
leave family homes as they will be unable to pay the tax to stay
put, and that this also puts a further strain on the Council as
there is a shortage of housing in the City;
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(g) opposes
the Government’s cuts to Council tax benefit which will see
many families in Sheffield being hit with increased Council tax
bills, putting a further strain on their finances at the same time
as this Government are giving tax cuts to millionaires;
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(h)
worries that the cumulative effect of welfare cuts is going to have
a huge detrimental impact on the most vulnerable people in society
and cause further poverty, force people into using debt and burden
frontline services that are already being cut; and
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(i) urges this Government to wait a year before
implementing Universal Credit and believes that there are too many
questions that have yet to be answered and such ...
view the full agenda text for item 11.
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Minutes:
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12. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING CHILD POVERTY
That this Council:-
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(a) is
aware that there are approximately 3.6 million children living in
poverty in the UK today and the Government is not doing enough to
tackle the problem and proposed new legislation announced by the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (the Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan
Smith MP) which limits benefits to two children threatens to make
the situation much worse;
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(b)
regrets that there are even more serious concentrations of child
poverty at a local level: in 100 local wards, for example, between
50 and 70 per cent of children are growing up in poverty, 23%
of children in Sheffield live in poverty, there are significant
variations with numbers at 36% and 37% for Brightside and Central
compared to just 5% in Hallam and 11% in Hillsborough;
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(c) believes that,
despite Government rhetoric, work does not provide a guaranteed
route out of poverty in the UK, noting that almost two-thirds (62
per cent) of children growing up in poverty live in a household
where at least one family member works;
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(d)
acknowledges that people are poor for many reasons, however,
believes this Government’s explanations which put poverty
down to drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown, poor
parenting, or a culture of worklessness, are not supported by the
facts;
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(e)
also regrets that child poverty blights childhoods and has long
lasting effects, noting that by age 16, children receiving free
school meals achieve 1.7 grades lower at GCSE than their wealthier
peers, and that
leaving school with fewer qualifications translates into lower
earnings over the course of working life;
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(f) is
concerned that child poverty is also related to more complicated
health histories over the course of a lifetime, again influencing
earnings as well as the overall quality and indeed length of life,
noting that professionals live, on average, eight years longer
than unskilled workers;
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(g) is
aware that child poverty imposes costs on broader society –
estimated to be at least £25 billion a year, but believes
that
savings could be made if the Government tackles the problem
now;
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(h) acknowledges
that child poverty reduced dramatically between 1998/9-2010/11 when
1.1 million children were lifted out of poverty (before housing
costs) and that
this reduction is credited in large part to measures by the
previous Government that increased the levels of lone parents
working, as well as real and often significant increases in the
level of benefits paid to families with children;
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(i) is
concerned that according to the charity Child Poverty UK, under
current Government policies, child poverty is projected to rise
from 2012/13 with an expected 300,000 more children living in
poverty by 2015/16, and that
this upward trend is expected to continue with 4.2 million
children projected to be living in poverty by 2020;
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(j) is
saddened that this Government has failed to acknowledge that what
happens outside schools has a huge impact on children's ability to
do well within them, noting that since the Coalition Government
took office, out-of-school ...
view the full agenda text for item 12.
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Minutes:
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13. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING PARKS AND GREEN SPACES
That this Council:-
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(a) reiterates its
commitment to Sheffield’s magnificent parks and green spaces,
which have earned Sheffield a reputation as the greenest city in
the country;
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(b)
praises the work of the previous Council Administration in doubling
the number of parks with Green Flag awards, securing more of the
awards than any other authority in Yorkshire;
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(c) believes that
despite financial constraints the maintenance of local
parks and
green spaces remains an important duty;
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(d)
understands that as the Council faces its future, more innovative
and cost-effective methods of delivering services are required;
and
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(e)
therefore calls upon the Council to
investigate new methods for delivering services in local parks,
including partnership working with external organisations and
greater collaboration with “Friends of
Groups”.
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Minutes:
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14. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING ENERGY PRICES
That this
Council:-
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(a) is
concerned that the average energy bills are soaring, up by
£200 in the last two years and this
Conservative-led Government is
out-of-touch, out-of-date and puts the interests of the big energy
companies ahead of ordinary families and pensioners struggling with
soaring energy bills;
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(b)
believes that this is a big contributor to the cost of living
crisis afflicting millions of families across the country, where
many families, including in Sheffield, are having to choose whether
to heat or eat;
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(c) is aware that
the energy market is dominated by just six companies; in fact 99
per cent of households get their energy from one of the ‘Big
Six’ who are all but one putting up their prices between
6-11% by the end of 2012;
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(d)
understands that a lack of competition in the market means energy
prices are higher than they might otherwise be, and notes that a
recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research suggests
that with more competition in the market, bills could be as much as
£70 less per year;
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(e)
acknowledges that switching between energy suppliers reached its
lowest ever level in the first quarter of 2012, and believes this
is not because customers are happy with their energy providers, but
rather because there has been a loss of faith in the energy
market;
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(f) is not
surprised that the Prime Minister’s announcement that the
Government would legislate to force energy companies to put
customers on their lowest tariffs unravelled within hours, noting
that even consumer groups argued that it was unworkable and would
destroy what little competition there is in the energy market,
forcing prices up not down and believes this is another u-turn by the Coalition Government who
have proven that they do not think before they make
announcements;
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(g) is
disappointed that the Government’s Draft Energy Bill has
nothing to help families struggling to make ends meet and believes
that their only answer so far has been to say that customers are to
blame for not shopping around enough and, at the same time as
energy bills are rocketing, the Government has cut back the support
it is offering to help people heat their homes;
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(h) regrets that
this Government is not prepared to stand up to powerful vested
interests, noting that they have backed business-as-usual in the
energy market and refused to challenge the practices, pricing and
structure of the energy market, and the need for urgent
reform;
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(i) believes
that the Government should change course and make reforms that
would benefit hard working families in the UK, and that they should
open up the market to greater competition and transparency by
following Labour’s Real Energy Market Reform
which:
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(i) would
force the energy companies to pool the power they generate and to
make it available to any retailer, in an attempt to open the market
and to put downward pressure on prices;
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(ii) would abolish
Ofgem and create a ...
view the full agenda text for item 14.
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Minutes:
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15. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING SHEFFIELD EAGLES RLFC
That this Council:-
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(a)
congratulates the Sheffield Eagles on their
magnificent victory over Featherstone Rovers in the Rugby League
Championship Grand Final last month;
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(b)
congratulates Mark Aston and his
colleagues on their tireless efforts in rebuilding
the new Eagles since 1999;
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(c) thanks the Sheffield Eagles for all the work done in promoting
Sheffield nationally;
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(d)
thanks the Sheffield Eagles for their
rugby league development work done within Sheffield
communities and particularly young people (boys and
girls);
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(e)
wishes them every success in their aim to return to
the Super League; and
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(f)
directs
that copies of this resolution be sent to Mark
Aston, the Chief Executive of the Sheffield Eagles and the Chief
Executive of the Rugby Football League.
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Minutes:
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16. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING PLANNING LAW
That this Council:-
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(a) notes the recent
announcement by the Prime Minister of aproposal to relax certain planning laws relating to housing for
a three-year period;
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(b)
notes that nearly 90% of all planning applications from
householders are approved and believes the failure to proceed with
housing developments is not a result of the current planning
laws;
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(c) believes these
proposals go against the principle of localism, will fail to
protect local communities and fears the changes could lead to
inappropriate developments, which will adversely impact communities
in Sheffield;
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(d)
recalls the motion agreed at the 2012 Liberal Democrat Conference,
which set out opposition to these proposals;
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(e)
echoes the sentiments of this motion and calls upon the Prime
Minister to withdraw these proposals; and
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(f)
directs that a copy of this motion is
sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government.
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Minutes:
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17. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING IMMIGRATION
That this Council:-
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(a) is
concerned that changes to the immigration policy will be hugely
detrimental to the multicultural vitality of Sheffield and the UK,
and believes that changes to the minimum income threshold, right of
appeal and student immigration would cause damage to the culture
and economy of our City;
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(b)
disagrees with the decision of the Government to scrap the full
right of appeal for more than 80,000 relatives of British families
who are refused entry to visit them each year;
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(c) notes that
from 9 July 2012, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and first cousins
will no longer be considered to be family visitors for appeal
purposes;
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(d) is
further concerned about Government intentions to remove completely
the right of appeal against family visitor visa refusal decisions
through a clause in the Crime and Courts Bill (House of Lords Bill
4 of 2012-13);
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(e) is
worried that if this Bill is passed in 2013, the family members
(spouses, parents, siblings, children, grandparents, grandchildren,
in-laws) will also lose the right of appeal;
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(f)
recognises the importance of right of appeal: principles of
equality, and respect for the rule of law demand an appropriate
mechanism to check the actions of the entry clearance officers
through scrutinising their findings, decisions and all of the
relevant evidence upon which they are based, and that appropriate mechanism is a right of
appeal;
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(g)
opposes the proposal by the Home Secretary to impose a minimum
income threshold of £27,500 to allow a British Citizen to
bring their non European Union partner/spouse and family to settle
in the U.K;
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(h) condemns the
Liberal Democrats in Government for supporting the measures and
doing a u-turn in their support of Article 12 of the Human Rights
Act ‘the right to marry and found a family’
;
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(i) supports
the right of people to choose their life partner from anywhere in
the world and believes these proposals, if implemented, would have
a detrimental effect on the vitality of multicultural life in
Sheffield;
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(j) views
these proposals as a back door attempt by the
Conservative party to bring back the
Primary Purpose Rule which was abolished by the previous
Government, thereby enabling families to be reunited who had been
separated for more than 10 years by the rule;
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(k) supports the
work of Paul Blomfield MP, in
particular, his work on the Select Committee on Business Innovation
and Skills towards taking students out of the net migration targets
and reviewing the restrictive proposals on the new English test and
the restrictive rules on post-study work, noting that overseas
students contribute millions of pounds a year into the local
economy and according to Professor Edward Acton (Vice-Chancellor of
the University of East Anglia) the change could result in as many
as 70% of these students being barred from entry to the U.K;
and
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(l)
resolves to write to the City’s
six MPs requesting that they write to the Home Secretary to raise
the deep concerns of this Council ...
view the full agenda text for item 17.
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Minutes:
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18. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
That this Council:-
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(a) is
dismayed by the recent unjust and vicious attack on Malala Yousafzai, a 14
year old girl who has campaigned for education for girls in
Pakistan;
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(b) is
pleased to hear that Malala is making
progress while being treated at Queen Elizabeth’s and
Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham;
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(c) joins the
international community in condemning this attack and stands
shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against
terrorism;
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(d) is
aware that 32 million girls worldwide do not have access to
education;
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(e)
calls on the international community and Pakistan to ensure that
every girl like Malala has the chance
to go to school;
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(f) supports
Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, in his calling
for action on the second millennium goal for universal primary
education; and
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(g)
believes that by declaring 10 November -
one month after the attempted assassination - "Malala and the 32
million girls day", we can start to make Malala's dream come true.
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Minutes:
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19. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING RECYCLING
That this Council:-
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(a)
notes the recent YouGov survey
commissioned by the Resource Association, which demonstrated that
73 per cent of adults did not know where the waste ended up, with
68 per cent saying they would like more information;
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(b)
therefore supports the Resource Association’s End Destination
of Recycling Charter, which encourages local authorities and
companies to publish an annual register of the end point to its
recyclables;
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(c) welcomes the
hard work of Rebecca Taylor MEP to promote the Charter across
Yorkshire and The Humber; and
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(d) calls upon the
Council to sign up to the Charter with immediate effect.
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Minutes:
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20. |
NOTICE OF MOTION CONCERNING BLACKLISTING
That this Council:-
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(a)
notes that a number of construction companies have been challenged
about supporting the existence of and subscribing to construction
industry ‘blacklists’;
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(b)
believes that blacklisting is an unacceptable practice and cannot
be condoned, and notes that the GMB union is leading a national
campaign aimed at forcing those who have been involved in
blacklisting to apologise to those who have been affected by
it;
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(c) notes that it
is understood that the construction industry blacklist was collated
by the Consulting Association (a private consultancy) and was then
provided at a cost to construction companies as they sought to
recruit/avoid new workers;
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(d)
notes that the Information Commissioner has investigated and taken
action against the Consulting Association for this practice and the
Information Commissioner has taken enforcement action against a
number of construction companies based on the evidence recovered
from the Consulting Association;
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(e)
further notes that owing to the concentration of construction
activity in and around large cities, many of those alleged to have
been discriminated against live in the country’s major
cities; and
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(f)
resolves to support the GMB
campaign.
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Minutes:
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